I feel like I’m missing something obvious when it comes to test optional colleges.
If not submitting test scores doesn’t negatively impact an applicants chances why would such colleges bother with test scores at all, for any student?
I asked this recently at a test optional college. The admissions officer replied, ’ That’s a great question.’
Lol, it IS a great question because scores don’t define potential the way the rest of your record can.
But it doesn’t make it any easier to get into a top TO college. They’re looking hard at your record, the sorts of challenges you took on, achievements, impact, and more.
Top test-required schools do, too. But they can use scores as a filter.
Having standardized test scores that are above the standard for a test optional college will be considered and can be a positive attribute in an application. If standardized test scores are not sent in then other parts of the application are given more weight.
I have heard a number of admissions officers at test optional colleges suggest that if a student’s standardized test scores are at or above the average for the college then they should send them – if a student’s standardized test scores are below average for the college then they should apply test optional.
I think that for some students, their standardized test scores ARE one of the things that speak best to their abilities and talents. Those students are free to submit scores! So in other words, if Student A has a 750 verbal, 800 math SAT score and is applying to University of Chicago, Wesleyan University or Smith College, she should go ahead and send those scores, in my opinion.
Other students may have excellent GPAs and extraordinarily impressive extracurriculars…but less impressive SAT and/or ACT scores. Maybe Student B thinks he is better represented by leading with his 4.0 unweighted GPA, his published scientific research, his two hundred hours of community service working with elementary school kids on the autism spectrum including proposing and implementing a new homework support program, and his four years as the lead alto sax in the jazz band. Perhaps that student would rather leave his 1350 composite SAT --650 verbal, 700 math–out of the equation. While 1350 clearly isn’t a shameful SAT score, it is below average for University of Chicago and therefore not that candidate’s strongest asset.
I think the idea of going test optional is to give students more options about which of their credentials allow them to put their best foot forward. Same goes with schools that allow things like an optional supplemental creative arts portfolio. It truly is optional.
Growing list of great schools. It’s interesting. On the one hand, one day testing should not, in my opinion, dictate in any major way a candidate’s ability vs. an entire HS career. OTOH, it’s really the only objective measurement tool. AP tests are but not everyone has access to the same AP classes, so that’s not objective.
The growing concern, for me, with standardized testing is the gamesmanship that is played with super scoring, significant prep and coaching, etc. Clearly those with resources have the opportunity to increase scores along the way (so maybe it isn’t really objective after all).
Looks like the list of quality schools going TO is growing. If that trend continues, wonder if kids will even bother with the tests (assuming they weren’t applying to HYPSM and other elites anyway).
“If not submitting test scores doesn’t negatively impact an applicants chances why would such colleges bother with test scores at all, for any student?”
It is win-win for the colleges. Their overall test scores improve because only students with good scores report. This helps the college in some rankings. More kids apply because they can be poor test takers and still have a shot at admission. More applicants, same number of seats = more selective = higher rankings. You won’t hear that from an AO.
Lol, if you won’t ever hear that from the source, what makes it so? Just asking. As far as I know, all (most?) TO colleges do ask for those scores on matriculation. They have the info in their data banks. The confusion, right now, is which colleges do currently use the complete score range info in their reporting.
The only win-win for the colleges is when they DO choose the right kids, who do well at the college, integrate successfully, go on to graduation and satisfying careers. None of this is ‘pig in a poke.’
Which rankings include reported test scores without penalizing colleges that only report a portion of the scores and selectivity?
Wesleyan is among the TO colleges that require all scores upon matriculation. And, ironically, the median scores improved slightly over the space of a few years, I think precisely for the reasons given above: People with higher than median scores now see them as hooks.
Will we one day see average scores of 1600/36 at these schools then, if the majority of students submitting scores score above the previous years average?
No one knows yet how score ranges will pick up. So many schools are adding themselves to the TO list right now. And the point of TO is NOT to be hierarchical, hand pick best scores. It’s a deeper and more concerted effort to look beyond them. Counter-intuitive to suggest higher scores are a tip into a TO college.
And in the first place, more matters than stats. for a holistic top college.
I agree with @Groundwork2022. Schools encourage students with higher scores to submit while suggesting students with lower ones do not. I have also seen some schools on the Common App give the option of reporting scores but checking a box that gives the school the choice whether or not to consider the score in the admissions process if the student is unsure if it is high enough. My D’s test prep tutor told me the schools are using the TO policies to make themselves look more selective in a time when overall test scores are declining.
Yup, TO is a sham. Holistic colleges always had the option to ignore low test scores if they felt that they didn’t reflect the strength of the rest of the application.
Nonsense. Some would have us believe colleges’ only viewpoint is USNews, an insupportable position.
Look at the 20 year Bates study (and now a few other recent ones) that show an insignificant difference between the college performance of those who submitted vs not.
Not sure what makes a test prep tutor an authority on admissions policies.
“it’s really the only objective measurement tool”
Why do we say a test is even an objective measurement unless we ask at least two very important questions:
HS GPA has been shown to be a better, but not perfect, college GPA forecaster than standardized test scores when large numbers of students are in the sample. On a much more limited basis, tests have shown that college GPAs are not the best forecasters even of professional success. When my university ( a STEM university) ran GPA against professional awards, the correlation was not significant and the performance of the bottom 10% of the class mirrored the performance of the top 10% of the class .
Where do interest and motivation step in?
Putting a number on something does not make it “objective.” The somewhat disconcerting truth is the subjective reality of our many “objective” measures. This is not a track event where we measure the length of the toss, which by our definition qualifies the winner. This is why some seek an holistic approach… we want a more complete picture and confess the subjective nature of the process.
Here’s a fun, short TEDx video on the usefulness of standardized testing:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gv_Cr1a6rj4
I don’t think you can average a perfect score and still admit people who score less than perfectly. 
IOW, I don’t think colleges will ever geg to the point where they accept everyone who score perectly, or only apps who score perfectly.
Through iteration, college score-profile reports would approach the maximum under this scenario, but only with the assumption that scores from all students (including those from students who did not submit them for purposes of admission, but which were later supplied) were not used to construct the publicly available averages.
@happy1 And if everyone takes the AO’s advice, the college’s average scores of applicants go way up. Perfect!
@cypresspat That seems to be the idea LOL!
In any event I’m just trying to pass on advice I’ve heard.